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Vacuum vessel

Europe completes first of five sectors

30 Sep 2024

The ITER assembly teams are gearing up to receive a 440-tonne machine component shipped from Italy—sector #5, the first of five vacuum vessel sectors expected from the European Domestic Agency over the next two years.

Teams at Westinghouse clean ITER vacuum vessel sector #5 (440 tonnes) before packaging and shipment. Photo: F4E

In a ceremony held on 24 September in Westinghouse's Monfalcone facility, the European Domestic Agency and its industrial partners celebrated ten years of collaboration on a critical component—the plasma chamber that houses the fusion reactions and acts as a first safety containment barrier.

Europe is responsible for delivering five of the ITER vacuum vessel's nine sectors, while Korea has delivered four (the last Korean sector is travelling now to ITER).

In Europe, the complex series of industrial steps required to manufacture the sectors has involved 150 people in Italy and at least 15 companies and their teams across Europe. A vacuum vessel sector is built from four sub-segments; for sector #5, two of the four segments were manufactured by Westinghouse, while the other two were produced by Walter Tosto. From initial cutting activities to the final product, manufacturing required at least 20,000 hours of machining and 100,000 hours of welding (to complete 150 km of welds).

Fusion for Energy and contractors celebrate 10 years of collaboration and the successful completion of the first of five European vacuum vessel sectors. Photo: F4E

"Our commitment to deliver, the teamwork, and innovative thinking have been the driving forces of this impressive achievement," said Marc Lachaise, director of Fusion for Energy. "It is a testament to European knowhow in engineering that we can be proud of and proof of our determination to harness the potential of fusion energy. ITER has also been instrumental in boosting Europe's competitiveness and raising the benchmark in manufacturing."

Sector #5 was loaded on a trailer on Saturday 28 September at Monfalcone; today, it will transfer to a ship for a short five-day voyage to the French port of Fos-sur-Mer. The sector is expected on site at ITER at the end of the month. Europe's four remaining sectors are in production and will be delivered to ITER over the next two years.

See a related article on the Fusion for Energy website.

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